Switch wafer mounting clip



June 30, 1953 E. J. ZIKMUND ETAL 2,644,063

SWITCH WAFER MOUNTING CLIP Filed May 21 1951 Fig.3.

- Inventors: Edward J. zikmund. Samuel E.Hatchett,

Their Attorney.

Patented June 30, 1953 SWITCH WAFER MOUNTING CLIP Edward J. Zikmund andSamuel E. Hatchett, Syracuse, N. Y., assignors to General ElectricCompany, a corporation of New York Application May 21, 1951, Serial No.227,345

'7 Claims.

Our invention relates to terminal panel assemblies for electricalapparatus, and more particularly to terminal panel mounting assemblieswhich are quickly detachable. While our invention is or general utility,it has particular application to radio switch wafer assemblies of themulti-unit or gang type.

In many instances it has been found desirable to mount electricalapparatus on a plurality of panels or wafers and for convenience toassemble these multi-unit arrangements in tiered relationship. This isespecially true in the case of gang switches used in radio receivers andother electrical instruments wherein a plurality of circuits are to beswitched.

In the past these gang switches have ge er" ally comprised'a pluralityof switch wafers, each wafer having its own switching member. A commonactuating shaft was provided to operate all the individual switchessimultaneously. In either the manufacturing and assembling of suchswitch units or in the continued use of such switch units it has beenfound that occasionally a switch wafer may become defective. It is thendesirable to remove and replace that particular faulty wafer rather thanthe entire gang switch.

In prior art arrangements the switch wafers have been either boltedtogether along a common shaft, the shaft extending through holes in eachwafer or each wafer has been secured to a. transverse support member bymeans of riveted brackets. In both arrangements it has been difficult toreplace a single faulty switch wafer without either withdrawing thesupporting shafts or knocking out the riveted angle brackets. In bothcases the removal of such. a wafer is a time consuming, tedious taskwhich, in addition to being burdensome, may dislocate adjacent wiredwafers with deleterious effects.

We have found that it is possible to accomplish the removal ofindividual defective switch wafers in gang switch assemblies in a simpleand convenient manner.

It is accordingly a primary object of our invention to provide a quickdetachable assembly for mounting electrical apparatus in which themounting panel is releasably secured to a supporting member.

Another object of our invention is to provide a new and improvedmultimnit switch wafer asvide an improved gang switch arrangementwherein each switch wafer is detachably secured to common supportmembers by means of spring clip members.

More specifically, it is an object of our invention to provide a new andimproved tiered panel mounting assembly which is particularly adapted togang switches and in which each mounting panel or wafer is quicklydetachable from common support means and secured thereto by spring clipmembers.

For additional objects and advantages, and for a better understanding ofour invention, attention is now directed to the following descriptionand accompanying drawings. The features of our invention which arebelieved to be novel are particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a perspective view of two sections of a gang switchconstructed and supported in accordance with the teaching of the presentinvention.

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the structural arrangement forquick detachably securing the switch wafers of Fig. 1 to a commonsupport member.

Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of another embodiment of ourinvention employing a different type of spring clip securing means.

Fig. 4 illustrates in cross-sectional view the assembled relationship ofthe elements shown in Fig. 3.

Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown a portion of a gang switch Iassembled in accordance with the teaching of our invention in which twomounting wafers or sections, 2 and 3, are illustrated. Each waferincludes a rotary switch A. While the details of each switch do not forma part of this invention and are amply described in the prior art, itmay be generally stated that the switch 4 comprises a plurality ofcontact members 5 which are riveted or eyeleted to the wafer and includea lug or tab portion 6 to which suitable connections may be soldered.Each contact member also includes a pair of spring or resilient jaws Iwhich cooperate with portions of a circular contact plate 8 secured to acentrally disposed insulating rotor member 9. Two such circular contactplates 8 are providedone on each side of the rotor member ii. Eachcircular contact plate 8 extends beyond the periphery of the rotormember 9 and cooperates with one surface of the wafer 3 so as toposition rotatably the rotor member 9 within the wafer. Tongues I!)extend from the circular contact plate 3 and are adapted to engage thedesired contact members 5. It

will be obvious that any number of contact mem bers may be used and thatthere are pan infinite number of switching c rn that be provided. Therotors 9 individual waters 2 and i, which with he; ciated contactmembers provide the stationary contact assembly of the rotary switch,have a common central axis which in the case of the gang switch may bethought of as the actuating shaft ii. lit will be appreciated that thisshaft ll will generally be connected to a control knob (not shown) andwhich may be removed when any switch wafer is to be withdrawn.

The individual switch waters 2 and 3 are sup ported by two parallelsupport members [2 and The body of the switch. mounting wafer and alsothe support members may be composed an insulating material. The supportmem bers include holes i l at opposite ends thereof for mounting theassembly in any convenient manner.

The manner in which the switch wafers shown in Fig. 1 are releasablysecured to the supporting members best illustrated by referring to Fig.2 which is a fragmentary exploded view of the assembly of Fig. 1 nearthe upper edge N3 of water The upper edge it has a support receivingopening I"! which comprises a recessed or indented open slot. This slotis substantially iJ-sl1aped and includes oppositely disposed guide notchportions 88 and I?! in the side walls thereof.

The transverse support member I3 comprises an elongated body ofinsulating material having, at spaced intervals along its length,oppositely disposed notches or indexing portions 25. The portion of thetransverse support member i3 between the opposed index notches 253 isap-- proximately the width of the bottom ill of the open slot orrecessed opening ll appearing at the edge of the disk water 3. Thisportion of reduced dimension is adapted to fit into the slot ii at thebottom 2! thereof.

The spring clip member l5 shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is composed of anelongated strip or resi1ient material such as spring steel and isessentially swhaped in its configuration. One depending end 22 of thespring clip member incorporates a tang or tongue portion 23 which isadapted to fit into suitably positioned apertures or sockets 24 of thetransverse member l3. The tang and socket arrangement serves to anchorone end of the spring clip, lending greater rigidity to the assembledstructure while still not detracting from the desirable feature or quickdetachability.

In assembling the unit, the portion of reduced dimension of thetransverse support member iii is positioned at the bottom ill of theU-shaped open slot. Then the end 25, remote from the portion of thespring member I5 is positioned within the oppositely disposed notchportions is and iii of the switch wafer 3. The end portion 22. iscompressed until the tang portion 23 is in position within the locatingaperture 24. The switch wafer ii and supporting member iii are then heldin compression by means of the spring clip acting in engagementtherewith. The water 3 may be quickly detached from the support memberit by performing the above operation in reverse order.

Thus, each switch wafer is detachably secured to the transverse supportmembers by means of the s-shaped spring clip members 15. While the exactsupporting arrangement and method of assembling has been described inconnection with Fig. 2, the exploded view, it also will be evi-- dentfrom Fig. i that the spring clip member 15 holds the water 3 and thesupport member is in compression and further that the spring mem her i5may be quickly detached from the support and wafer member by compressingportion 22 of the clip I5 thereby, permitting the withdrawal of the tang23 from the aperture 2 The end portion 225 may then he slipped out frombe tween the guide notch portions it; and [9, permitting thedisengagement of the switch wafer 3 from the support member I3.

An opposite spring clip member l5 securing the other support member E2to the other edge it of the wafer can be similarly detached. Que oi thetwo support members may then be removed by first releasing all theretaining spring clip members it engaging that support. The individualswitch wafer 3 may then be readily withdrawn from the gang switchassembly after the shaft l l is withdrawn from engagement with itsassociated rotor member 9.

The switch wafer 3 can thus be conveniently and quickly removed withoutthe necessity oi": dislocating one of the two common support members iiiand E3 or the adjacent wafer The assumed faulty wafer 3 may then, ofcourse, be replaced with a new one and the removed support member may berepositioned. It will be noted that in order to provide a rigid assemblythere should be at least a pair of transverse support members It? and i3and a corresponding number of openings ll each switch wafer.

While we have shown but one such ES-shaped clip within each recessedporton of each switch wafer, it will be apparent that another such clipcould be inserted from the opposite direction within the locating notch.With this in mind, we have shown two spaced apart tang locatingapertures 24 which may receive the tongues or tangs .23 of opposingspring clip members [5, each of which makes engagement at one endthereof with each other, the guide notches l8 and i9 and the supportmember It.

It will be evident that the openings ll at the opposite edges It and E6of each switch wafer need not necessarily be U-shaped but that theymight logically be designed to accommodate a circular support memberwhich circular support member might incorporate a circular or annularindexing notch corresponding in function to the opposed index notchesiii of the elongated support member l3 shown in Fig. 2. Further, theexact shape of the opposed guide notches l8 and iii within the disk.wafer is not to be considered controlling as long as they are adapted toreceive spring clip members.

Referring to Fig. 3, there is shown in exploded view a modification oithe securing used in our invention in which the opening il in the edgeit of the wafer 3 is essentially the same as that described inconnection with 2. The transverse support member :3 is essentially thesame as the support member l3 shown in Fig. 2 except that the locatingapertures as are not provided. However, a diiferently shaped spring clipmember 26 is provided instead or: the S- shaped clip 15 with tang 2.3shown in 2. The spring clip member 25 is essentially bow-shaped having acentrally disposed lateral groove 2'! with ribs 29 and upturned endportions 23. The water 3 and transverse support member l3 are generallyassembled exactly as described in connection with Fig. 2. The springclip member 25 in this modification is inserted in essentially the samemanner as the .S-shaped member 15 there described. In this embodimentthe guide notches It and [9 within the recessed opening H are engaged bythe central groove portion 21 of the bow-shaped sprin clip member 25.Their relative positioning is shown in cross-sectional view in Fig. 4.It wil be apparent that in this modification the transverse supportmember I3 is positioned exactly as before Within the recessed opening 1l at the bottom 2! thereof and that the bowshaped spring clip member isslid within the locating notch until the ribs of the groove portion 2'!engage the guide notches. The bowshaped spring clip member 26 isinitially flattened against the side of the transverse support memer 13while fitting it within the guide notch and is released when in itscentral. position. It then functions in a manner similar to the S-shapedclip I5 shown in connertion with Figs. 1 and 2, holding the transversesupport member IS in compression with the wafer 3. The assembly issimilarly detached by performin the operation in reverse order. it willbe noted that in this construction there is no tendency for the springclip 25 to twist the strip is with respect to wafer 3, since the clip 26applies equal and opposed bending torques on both sides of the mountingslot. In this respect it differs functionally from the construction ofFigs. 1 and 2, wherein each spring clip 25 exerts pressure on one sideof a slot, tending to rotate the support member about the base of thatslot as a fulcrum.

While We have shown the switch wafer members as being essentiallysquare, it will, of course, be obvious that the teaching of ourinvention could also be adapted to wafers having other configurationssuch as round or oblong wafers in which the necessary indentations orrecesses at the edges thereof are oppositely disposed with respect to acentral axis.

As heretofore mentioned, our improved terminal panel mounting assemblymay be employed in arrangements other than gan switch units. Forexample, it might be desirable to mount other electrical components suchas resistor-condenser sub-assemblies on similar mounting panels in thetiered arrangement.

It will thus be apparent that we have provided a novel terminal panelmounting assembly col.

prising a plurality of water shaped panels in tiered arrangement havincommon support members detachably secured thereto and especially such anarrangement employed in a gang switch whereby each switch Wafer may beeasily and readily detached from the whole without having to removeriveted connections or to disturb adjacent wafers.

While a specific embodiment of our invention has been shown anddescribed and certain modifications therein have been suggested, itwill, of course, be understood that various other modifications may bemade without departin from the principles of the invention. The appendedclaims are therefore intended to cover any such modifications within thetrue spirit and scope of the invention.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

l. A quickly detachable assembly for mounting electrical apparatuscomprising a mounting wafer having a of spaced apart support openings,means for supporting said wafer comprising a pair of elongatedtransverse members each fitting within one of said support openings anda pair or spring clips each releasably securing one of said transversemembers to said wafer within one of said openings, each said spring cliphaving a detent portion cooperating with its ad jacent transverse memberand mounting wafer and constructed to resist lateral forces tending todisengage said clip from said opening.

2. A quickly detachable assemblyfor mounting multi-unit gang switchescomprising a switch mounting Wafer having a recessed support opening inone edge thereof, means supporting said switch mountin wafer comprisingan. elongated transverse member arranged to fit within said recessedsupport opening, saidwafer also having a pair of notches in oppositesides of said opening lying above the surface of said member when fittedin said opening, and means comprising spring clip arranged to engagesaid notches for releasably securing said transverse member to saidswitch mounting wafer.

3. A quickly detachable assembly for mounting multi-unit gang switchescomprising a plurality of spaced apart parallel mounting wafers having acommon central axis, each of said mounting wafers having a pair ofoppositely disposed support openings with respect to said common a? apair of elongated transverse support members each extending through oneof said support openings of each of said mounting wafers, and meansreleasably securing said transverse members to said wafers comprisingspring clip members extending into said openings and engaging saidtransverse support members and said mounting wafers, each said clipmember having a detent portion cooperating with its adjacent supportmember and mounting wafer and constructed to resist lateral forcestending to disengage the clip member from the opening.

l. A quickly detachable switch wafer mounting assembly comprising aplurality of spaced apart parallel mounting wafers having a commoncentral axis, each of said wafers having a pair of oppositely disposedU-shaped indented support openings in edges thereof, each of saidU-shaped openings having oppositely disposed guide notch portions in theside Walls thereof, a plurality of elongated transverse support members, each of said members including spaced apart notched. indexingportions fitting into each of said U-shaped openings, and means securingeach of said transverse members within each of said support openingscomprising a spring clip member fitted into said guide notch portions ofsaid support opening and releasably securing said support member to saidwafer member, each said clip member having a detent portion cooperatingwith its adjacent support member and mounting wafer and constructed toresist lateral forces tending to disengage the clip member from theopening.

5. A quickly detachable gang switch assembly comprising a plurality ofspaced apart switch wafer members and a plurality of transverse supportmembers, each of said Wafer members having an indented U-shaped supportreceiving opening in the edge thereof, said U-shaped opening havingoppositely disposed guide notches in the side walls thereof, each ofsaid transverse support members comprising an elongated strip ofinsulating material having oppositely disposed indexing notches fittingwithin said U-shaped opening and including spaced apart locatingapertures, and means releasably securing each of said support memberswithin each of said U- shaped openings comprising an S-shaped springacsaoes clip member, one end of which fits within said oppositelydisposed guide notch portions, the other end having a tang portionfitting within one of said locating apertures of said transverse supportmember, whereby said transverse memher and said mounting wafer are heldin com pression.

6. A quickly detachable assembly for mounting multi-unit switchescomprising a plurality of spaced apart parallel mounting wafers having acommon central axis, each of said wafers having a u shapcd recessopening on one edge there of, the side walls of said Ushaped recesshaving oppositely disposed guide notches therein, a plurality oftransverse support members each com prising an elongated strip ofinsulating material having an indexing portion of reduced dimensionsreceived in the U-shaped recesses of said wafers and means for securingsaid transverse members within each of the Ushaped recesses of saidwafers, comprising a substantially boW- shaped spring clip member havinga centrally disposed lateral groove adapted to engage said guide notchesand the outer end portion engaging said transverse support memberthereby releasably securing said mounting wafer to said transversesupport member.

'7. A gang switch assembly comprising a plurality of contact supportingwaters of insulating material, an elongated support member for retamingsaid wafers in spaced parallel relation,

each of said wafers having a generally U-shaped recess opening on oneedge thereof with opposed notches in the side walls of said recessesintermediate the edge of the respective wafers and the bottom of saidrecesses, said elongated support having opposed notches opening on theedges thereof at spaced points along the length thereof and received atsaid points in said recesses for interlocking engagement with the wallsof the respective wafers defining said recesses, and a plurality ofspring clips, one received in the notch of each wafer and engaging saidsupport to detachably retain said support and the respective water ininterlocking engagement, each said clip having a detent portioncooperating with its adjacent support member and wafer and constructedto resist lateral forces tending to disengage the clip from saidnotches.

EDWARD J. ZIKMUND. SAMUEL E. I-IATCHETT References Cited in the file of.this patent UNITED STATES PAmNTS Number Name Date 995,630 Naugle June20, 1911 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 536,087 Great Britain May1, 1941

